POWERCOPY PROFESSIONAL VERSION 2.06c ฉ JULY 1990-92 ญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญ Written in 1990-92 by Geoff Lohrere Copyright ฉ 1990 Advanced Technology Computers Piracy is a crime punishable by law!! This copier is for making archival backups of your originals only Keep programmers developing and spread the word, never the disk A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR ญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญ If you have trouble backing up an original program you may send the original disk with a STAMPED, return addressed Jiffy bag and if necessary I will update PowerCopy, supply a new parameter or explain how to backup the program. You may also send PowerCopy for updating and the original with a blank disk if you would like me to backup the software for you. PowerCopy Professional can be updated from a later version by copying tracks 1 to 79 only. DO NOT copy over track zero! For the authors current address or phone number contact place of purchase or call Melbourne directory assistance, Victoria, Australia. LOADING POWERCOPY PROFESSIONAL ญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญ Insert PowerCopy at the WorkBench prompt or load PowerCopy from WorkBench. If there is inadequate memory or any files required are missing an error message will be printed to the CLI and the screen beeped incase loaded from WorkBench. During the protection check the Drive Ready and Index Pulse signals are tested and error messages given if faults are found. You may be unaware of problems here as DOS does not use the Index or Drive Ready signals. On completion of loading PowerCopy, if the virus vectors are not clear, PowerCopy will report the possibility of a Virus in memory! Use the Install icon from WorkBench to install PowerCopy onto a hard drive. See also Hard Drive Installation. As PowerCopy uses a PAL window, if the KickStart fails to start your Amiga in PAL mode, PowerCopy will reset the system. As the boot block on PowerCopy guarantees a PAL window this will not happen unless loaded from a hard drive. INSTRUCTION SUMMARY AND POWERCOPY FACTS ญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญ The following is a condensed list of all PowerCopy functions. For more detailed information, read the instructions following this section. Program control is by pull down menus, click on gadgets and keyboard control. To edit the string gadgets 'Mem Address', 'Format Name', 'Sync Word', 'Data Length', 'Verify Count' and 'Retry Errors', click on the existing values, backspace or delete the current contents and enter the new values. The Start and End tracks are set by clicking the left mouse button on the desired co-ordinate in the track error grids. Use the 'Side 0' grid for the Start Track and the 'Side 1' grid for setting the End Track. Double clicking the same coordinate will set the Start and End tracks to the same value. The messages 'Mem Address ->', 'Track Range ->', 'Start Side -->', 'Disk Side --->', 'Sync Word --->', 'Read Length ->', 'Drive Speed ->', 'Data Length ->', 'Source Drive->, 'Verify Count->', 'Format Name ->', 'Backup Mode ->', 'Hard Device ->', 'Index Copy -->', 'Fix Errors -->', 'Verify Data ->' 'Say Message ->', 'Speed Adjust->', 'Target Drive->' and 'Retry Errors->' are click on gadgets to set default values and toggle or cycle through available options. Most of these options are also available from the pull down menus. The source and target drives can also be selected using F1-F5 for the source drive and F6-F10 for the target drive. Pull down menus are also available. The transparent gadget in front of the 'Target Drive->' message reverses the source and target drives. Select the HELP gadget to see the gadget position. Using source or target drive RAM you can Format, Erase, Check, Write Memory & KickStart, Read and Write Tracks, Install Boot, Rename Disk, Disk Info, Disk Compare, Copy Selected and Copy to RAM. Any new write operation to target drive RAM will erase the RAM drive, treating it as a blank disk, with the exception of Copy Selected, Install Boot, Rename Disk and Quick Format. Using Copy Selected allows you to recopy tracks with errors after a backup, without losing the other tracks copied to RAM. This setup requires sufficient RAM to take full advantage of this feature. DOS requires .9 meg minimum memory. Full disk operations on Amiga DOS tracks using source drive RAM will be approximately five seconds faster if at least 1.9 meg of memory is free. When writing DOS tracks to target drive RAM each track uses 5632 bytes of normal data or 11976 bytes of MFM data, if at least 1.9 meg of memory is free. Full disk operations using source or target drive RAM will be approximately one second faster if true fast memory is available. When writing non DOS tracks to target RAM, the amount of memory used for each track will be the full track length or the 'Data Length' value if not zero. If unable to open a window in PowerCopy because all free RAM has been used by target drive RAM, use 'CLEAR' or Erase RAM to free the RAM drive memory. If nearly all memory has been used by target drive RAM, some or all of the pull down menus may not be available. The session clock gadget, if selected will reset the clock to 00:00:00. Selecting the 'Window Close Gadget' in the top left corner of the screen will abort the last function selected or exit PowerCopy if not in a function. The two square gadgets in the top right hand corner of the screen are to move the screen to the rear and raise and lower the PowerCopy screen. All of the on and off options, resetting the Session Clock, Screen Gadgets and the 'Close Window Gadget' are active at all times, excluding file access. A disk backup is started by pressing the main enter key, the enter key on the numeric key pad, if not assigned or using the 'START' gadget. Backup mode 'QUICK' is the fastest backup mode in PowerCopy and will backup nearly all software with 'Index Copy' on or off as required. 'Index Copy' on will wait for the disk index pulse before scanning for a SyncWord when reading a track and will wait for the disk index pulse before writing a track. Index Copy can be on to backup nearly all software, but the disk backup will be slower than necessary, if Index Copy was not required. Backup mode 'QUICKPLUS' is identical to 'QUICK' except the gap on DOS tracks is copied also. Data in the gap was used occasionally on old protections. Backup mode 'MULTIPLE' is used to write to several target drives at once. Multiple targets are toggled on and off by pressing the 0,1,2 and 3 keys but will only be used if backup mode 'Multi' is selected. There are also two transparent gadgets beside each other on the right side of 'Say Message ->' and 'Speed Adjust->'. The left gadget toggles all available targets, and the right gadget will toggle all targets except the current source drive. Backup mode 'INDEXSYNC' disables use of SyncWords and copies from one index pulse to the next, exactly one disk rotation. 'INDEXSYNC' use is automatic if no known SyncWord is found, but may sometimes be needed to backup a disk. Backup mode 'SECTOR' is similar to 'POWER NIBBLE' but is for software with unknown sector formats. An Amiga DOS track has a known sector format. Backup mode 'NIBBLE' is the most powerful backup mode which may be needed with some protections. The need for 'SECTOR' or 'NIBBLE' backup should be rare. Backup mode 'PARAMETER' will backup a disk using the last loaded parameter. A SyncWord is a special word of data that computers use to find the start of data on a disk track. The standard SyncWord used is $4489. PowerCopy will automatically scan for other SyncWords if the standard $4489 is not found. SyncWords that are auto scanned for and used with backup mode 'SYNCSCAN' are contained in the file PowerCopy.SyncWords in the 's' directory. New SyncWords can be easily added to this file using a text editor or word processor. If this file is not present a default list of internal SyncWords will be used. Backup mode 'SYNCSCAN' creates a list of SyncWords found on each track. This mode uses the last SyncWord found instead of the first to backup each track. To display the SyncWords press the 's' key from the EDIT parameters window. Hard Device on may sometimes be needed for hard to detect or new protections, otherwise unless Hard Device off is required, selecting auto is recommended. If the Power Device is going to be used, the selected target must be behind the Power Device, while any drives before the Device can be the source drive. If you cannot verify anything written to a 5ผ inch target drive with 'Hard Device' off and a Hardware Power Device fitted, but can read prewritten DOS disks alright, you may need a 4.7k pull up resistor connected from pin 22 (Write Data) on the disk drive itself, to the 5 volt supply rail (VCC). To test if the Hardware Power Device is working correctly, turn 'Hard Device' on, 'Verify Data' on, insert a DOS disk in the source drive, a blank disk in the target drive and select 'START' to begin the backup. If PowerCopy cannot detect the Power Device the message 'Hardware Power Device is required' will be displayed. If no 'X', bad verify errors are given after a few tracks, the Power Device is fully operational. The message 'Analyzing source and target drive speed' will be displayed before first use of the Power Device and the Amiga's power LED will be dimmed when the Hardware Device is actually in use transferring data. If the message 'Left mouse: Abort index alignment, Right: Abort copy' is given and the backup does not proceed, abort and adjust the Motor Pulse Width. 'Fix Errors' will fix as many sectors on an Amiga DOS track as possible. If no sectors can be fixed or the track is not Amiga DOS the target track will be formatted. Fixed errors will be white instead of black with standard palette. 'Fix Errors' if on, will be turned off automatically if 'Hard Device' is on as it is impossible to fix errors when transferring data direct between drives. 'Fix Errors' if on, will be turned off automatically if COMPAREing disks as fix errors would change the contents of the read data causing a bad compare. 'Fix Errors' if on, will be turned off automatically if Checking, Formatting, Writing Memory, Writing KickStart or Erasing Targets, for faster disk I/O. 'Verify Data' can be used to verify DOS and non DOS tracks, however the 'Data Length' gadget may be needed with some non DOS tracks if bad verifies are given on many tracks with the error at approximately the same offset. 'Verify Count' is the maximum number of retries for verifying written data, non DOS rereads, 'Retry Errors', bad track reads and 'Disk Compare' reads. 'Retry Errors' are the error numbers to be reread if found. The default retry errors are '1','4','5' and '9' as they are normally genuine DOS errors. 'Read Length' is the length of the last track read in words (two bytes). 'Drive Speed' is the length of data, in words, that can be written to each track on the disk in the target drive. 'Data Length' is the length in words to verify and the data length to transfer to the write buffer for non DOS tracks. Zero equals full track length. 'Say Message' is for turning the speaking of messages on and off. If you require more memory or do not need Speech, edit the speech speed under the options window to '000' and save it using 'Save Defaults'. This will speed up the loading of PowerCopy and free 76300 bytes of memory. 'Speed Adjust' prompts for drive speed adjustment if the first read track length exceeds or equals the initial pause length set in the open defaults window or if following track lengths vary by more than twenty words. 'Speed Adjust' on has priority over 'Hardware Device' auto for long tracks only. The error 'L' for long track, will only be displayed with 'Speed Adjust' off as 'Speed Adjust' on will stop and prompt for drive speed adjustment. The 'Initial Pause Length for Speed Adjust' option in the open defaults window can be used with 'Speed Adjust' off to determine at what track length the error code 'L' for long tracks will be given. 'Format Method' selects between formatting the selected track range or doing a quick format by writing a new boot block and an empty root directory. 'Values HexDec' sets 'Read Length' and 'Drive Speed' values to hex or decimal. 'ABORT' will abort the current disk operation. The 'Esc' key and the 'Close Window Gadget' can also be used. 'FORMAT' creates a bootable DOS disk to store files to, using the name entered in the 'Format Name' string gadget. 'Empty' is used if no name entered. 'CHECK' reads the source disk to check for errors or create a disk parameter. Copy 'SELECTed' is for Formatting, Checking, Copying or recopying selected tracks or errors. Select tracks by clicking in the error grids or press keys for corresponding errors. Use numeric keypad to select errors 'ฒ' and 'ณ'. Disk 'COMPARE' compares the disks in the selected source and target drives. 'Erase Targets' erases the target disk or disks if backup mode 'Multi'. Disk 'INFO' displays free blocks per track, total blocks free and disk name. 'RENAME' names the target drive disk with the name in the 'Format Name' string gadget. If no name is entered the default name of 'Empty' will be used. 'INSTALL' writes a standard DOS bootblock to the disk in the target drive. 'ANALYZE' displays a track density graph for the track read. Press the menu button to access the error grids. Click in the error grids to graph another track or press the 'a' key or the menu button again for disk buffer analysis. Analyze 'BUFFERS' displays the disk buffers used by PowerCopy. Keys 'r'ead, 'w' rite, 'f'ix and 's'ync set the corresponding buffer start. 'H' toggles between ASCII and Hex, Up and Down arrows scroll a full page, Left arrow backs up half a page and the Right arrow scrolls one line. The '1/End' key displays the end of read track data and '+' and '-' keys shift the data in the write buffer left or right one bit. The 'a'nalysis key gives a buffer analysis. 'MOVE' transfers the last loaded parameter file to the edit, save buffer. Used to display or make further alterations to an existing parameter file. 'EDIT' or create a disk parameter. Keys used are 's' to display SyncWords from a 'Sync Scan' copy, Up and Down arrows position the edit pointer to the desired track and side or '0' to '7' can be used to change the top line of the display to the corresponding track number * 10. Left and Right arrow keys move the cursor left or right to the desired field to edit. 'Spacebar' duplicates the parameters for the last track editted or 'Tab' duplicates the last track editted, excluding the SyncWord. 'Y' and 'N' are for 'On' and 'Off' fields. 'O', 'N' and 'S' for 'Off', 'NIB'ble and 'SEC'tor in the Nibble field. 'D' and 'N' are for 'DOS' and 'NON' DOS. '2' and '4' are for bit cell timing. 'M' and 'G' are for 'MFM' or 'GCR' and '0, 1, 2 and 5' are for '000, 140, 280 and 560' nano seconds write PreComp. Sync and length fields have different meanings for DOS tracks. The sync field is for the Gap fill value and the length field is the number of words to fill the Gap with. 'DELETE' Parameter opens a file requester to delete one or more parameter files. Hold the shift key down to select multiple files. 'OPEN' Parameter opens a file requester to load a disk parameter file. Backup mode parameter and end track 81 are auto selected after loading a parameter. 'SAVE' Parameter opens a file requester to save the created, editted or generated parameter in the edit, save buffer to the selected directory. 'Exit PowerCopy' exits PowerCopy. The 'Close Window Gadget' can also be used. 'Lower Side', 'Upper Side' and 'Both Sides' select the disk sides to use. 'Start Side' selects the disk side to start a disk operation from. The labels 'Side 0' and 'Side 1' in the error grids are gadgets. Click once to set the corresponding disk side or double click to set 'Disk Side' both and 'Start Side' to the side selected. 'PowerCopy Info' gives current version, authors name, dates, distributors etc. Status 'ERRORS' & codes displays all status codes and track errors. Resident 'SLEEP' closes the PowerCopy screen, leaving PowerCopy resident in memory. Press both mouse buttons simultaneously to return to PowerCopy. The 'Del'ete key can also be used for this function. 'Write RAM Data' writes memory to the selected track range starting from the address entered in the 'Mem Address' string gadget. 'READ' One Track reads the selected start track and side into the disk read and write buffers. Use 'BUFFERS' to display or analyze the read track. 'WRITE' One Track writes the current disk write buffer contents to the selected start track and side. 'Write KickStart' writes the resident KickStart to disk in the format required for an Amiga 1000. Allows for all versions of KickStart. Drive 'SPEED' displays the drive speed of the selected target or target drives if backup mode Multiple is selected. Hex and decimal byte and word lengths and motor R.P.M. are displayed. The drive speed test defaults to track 80. 'CLEAR' RAM drive clears target drive RAM and frees memory used. Equivalent to erasing target drive RAM. Reselect 'DRIVES' retests and enables use of floppy drives turned on after PowerCopy has been loaded. 'ASSIGN' function when selected will assign the next gadget or menu option selected to the numeric Enter key. 'Load Defaults' opens a file requester to load a PowerCopy config file. 'Save Defaults' opens a file requester to save the PowerCopy configuration. For auto config file loading when PowerCopy loads use SYS:s/PowerCopy.config. 'OPEN' Defaults opens a window to edit string gadgets for the drive speed test track, speed of speech, initial track length to pause on if 'Speed Adjust' is on, delay for drive head stepping, head settle delay for when track to be read or written is reached, double click delay for setting start and end tracks to the same value, delay in seconds till the information scroll message, required index alignment accuracy, motor pulse width to align indexes and write overlap distance from SyncWords. There are also gadgets to set the default values for this window only, color cycling, loading and saving PowerCopy defaults, color palette requester and a gadget to set the default PowerCopy.docs file path. 'Set DEFAULTs' resets the default PowerCopy configuration, restoring normal operation. The Backspace key can also be used. PowerCopy will load with DEFAULTS set if the PowerCopy.config file is deleted. 'COLORS' opens a 'Color Palette' requester to customize PowerCopy colors. 'Color Stripes' changes the background color to stripes. 'Normal Colors' changes the background color to one color. Options marked *????* in these docs are available from one of the three lines of main gadgets on the lower half of the screen as well as pull down menus. HELPFUL HINTS FOR BACKING UP PROGRAMS ญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญ A common reason for a backup failure is the occurrence of a 'ฒ' or 'ณ' error which can be a bad read because of a partially erased or unwritten track. The errors 'ฒ' and 'ณ' are most commonly a totally blank track but could be an uncommon protection. These erased areas are usually there on purpose to make it harder to backup the original, as other copiers I have seen give no indication when this type of bad read occurs. Unwritten areas of disk media will read back differently every time, so during a backup if there are erased areas on any tracks your Amiga may find a false SyncWord in the erased area instead of the correct SyncWord at the start of the disk data. This will result in an error 'ณ' or an error 'ฒ' for a non standard SyncWord. The 'Verify Count' can be increased to retry reading these tracks more times but will unnecessarily slow down a backup with lots of blank tracks. Using 'Index Copy' on sometimes helps with bad track reads. After a backup is complete 'Copy Selected' could be used to select these tracks and recopy them. If you cannot eliminate these errors the tracks are probably completely blank. Use 'Analyze Track' to confirm if a track is completely or partially blank. If the entire graph line is very jagged across the screen then the track is completely blank. If some of the graph line is gently wavering and the rest very jagged then the jagged part of the graph line is the portion of the track that is unwritten or erased. Two programs I encountered, which had all DOS tracks with the exception of one track, which had an error 'ณ', had an uncommon protection which could not be reliably auto detected and required 'Index Copy' on and 'Hardware Device' on to backup the track. Analyzing the track showed one sharp sawtooth about two thirds the way along the graph line. PowerCopy can verify non DOS tracks as well as DOS tracks, using 'Verify Data' on to guarantee data integrity. With non DOS tracks it is not possible to reliably auto detect how much of the track length is program data and how much is empty gap. If the gap on the disk is legal MFM format, verifying the entire track length will not be a problem, but if the gap is erased it will read back differently every time giving a bad verify. If 'Verify Data' is on, the 'Data Length' gadget can be used to stop the verify at the end of the program data, preventing bad verifies from erased areas in the gap or illegal MFM bit patterns probably from where the disk data overlapped when written. An example of when to use this would be if a program you were backing up was fairly consistently giving an error message at the word length of say $1726, $1727, $1725 and staying in that area, you would stop the backup, edit the 'Data Length' gadget to $1725, ie: the minimum length in error, and restart the backup. PowerCopy will not verify past the 'Data Length' and will not transfer anything after this length to the target disk. This will also result in a clean gap on the target disk, which would make this backup easier to backup a second time, probably without having to use the 'Data Length' gadget. A backup will fail if protection is missed on tracks 80 and 81. Use 'Analyze Track' to see if they are blank or set the end track to 81. When backing up programs with very long data tracks using the Hardware Power Device, the backup can be unreliable or fail completely on some disk drives. The problem is worse on higher tracks as the inner tracks are smaller and data therefore more dense. Success has been reported eliminating this problem totally by using high density disks. Strangely enough, tracks backed up on high density disks, without the Hardware Power Device are more unreliable than when using double density disks. When backing up programs with lots of long data tracks and some normal length tracks onto high density disks, you should put 'Hardware Device' on as PowerCopy only uses the Hardware Device when necessary. Note that if 'Fix Errors' is on PowerCopy will always bypass the Hardware Device if a track has an error. The message 'Hardware error fix not possible, bypassed' will be given if this happens. If the track bypassed that would have otherwise used the Hardware was protection the backup will fail. Some protections requiring Hardware need the source and target indexes to be aligned. The message 'Left mouse: Abort index alignment, Right: Abort copy' will be given with these protections. If the index alignment takes a long time or never occurs, adjust the 'Motor Pulse Width'. See 'Hardware Copy' and 'Motor Pulse Width' for more information. A common protection requiring Index Alignment is auto detected by PowerCopy in its default mode and gives an error '3' on track 0, side 1. If this protection is used it will be the main or only protection and needs to be backed up correctly. If you abort the Index Alignment with this protection the backup will probably fail. Some programs require track 0, side 1 to be separately Hardware Index Synced. UNDERSTANDING DATA STORAGE AND DISK PROTECTIONS ญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญ When a disk track is written the program data does not cover the full circumference of the track. There is an empty gap between where the program data starts and finishes. This unused area is called the 'Gap' and has to be present to allow for drive motor speed variations and to ensure that program data does not overlap itself. Data is written to a disk at a fixed rate, so if a disk drive motor is slower than normal, each disk rotation will be longer giving time to write more data which will also be more dense. If a drive motor is faster than normal, each disk rotation is faster giving less time to write data resulting in a shorter track length and less dense data. One common protection, called a long track, involves slowing down the drive motor speed when a track is written so it contains extra data. When copying long tracks it will not be possible to get all the data onto the target disk, unless your target drive is slowed down by the same amount as the drive the original tracks were written on. If you have a drive with a motor speed control or the Hardware Power Device, PowerCopy can backup these tracks. The Power Device will be used automatically with defaults set or if 'Speed Adjust' is on PowerCopy will prompt you to adjust your target drive speed to the 'read length' given in the message prompt. Most single long track protection schemes are normally on track 0, side 1 and often contain nothing of value. Other long track schemes involve all of the data tracks being long, and may hold more program data than a track written with normal motor speed. When reading a track, the disk hardware needs to know where the program data starts on a track. This is done using a special word called a SyncWord which does not occur in normal disk data. When a read using SyncWords is started, the disk hardware monitors the data coming from the disk media and commences reading the data into memory when the requested SyncWord is found. The SyncWord used with DOS tracks, IBM disks and most protected disks is $4489. Another protection involves a SyncWord other than the standard $4489 being used on one or more tracks. This is where many backup programs fail, as they only allow for the standard $4489 SyncWord. PowerCopy uses an internal list of SyncWords or if present a file called PowerCopy.SyncWords which can be added to with a text editor. PowerCopy will automatically scan using these SyncWords to find the SyncWord being used. One protection has the same SyncWord occurring at different positions on the track, and it is necessary to read the track on the first SyncWord after the gap. These tracks are written and read after waiting for the index pulse and will therefore need to be backed up using 'Index Copy' on. DOS tracks have eleven separate blocks of data, also called sectors, which are separated by $4489 SyncWords. This speeds up reading as less than one eleventh of the track has to be scanned to find a SyncWord. Sector numbers are used to sort the track after the read. A less common protection is where there is no used SyncWord on a track and the data is read and written using the index pulse. This is called an 'Index Sync' copy. Selecting 'Index Sync' disables use of SyncWords and copies from one index pulse to the next, exactly one disk rotation. 'Index Sync' will fail most times on DOS tracks unless they were written using the index pulse, as the backup will probably start and or stop in sector data instead of the gap, damaging the data in that sector. Copy Selected can be used to copy the boot track separately. DOS tracks could be written using 'Index Sync' as protection and would therefore need 'Index Sync' to back them up correctly. PROJECT OPTIONS: ญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญ *START* ------- Start disk backup will backup data from the source disk to the target disk or target disks if backup mode Multiple is selected. The numeric Enter key, if not assigned and the main Enter key can also be used. *ABORT* ------- Aborts the current disk operation. The 'ESC' key and the 'Close Window Gadget' also abort disk and other operations. Format Targets: *FORMAT* --------------- -------- This function will format the target disk or target disks if backup mode is Multiple, naming the disk or disks with the name entered in the 'Format Name' string gadget or using the default name of 'Empty' if no name is entered. If the format started from track 0 a boot block will be installed making the disk bootable. A Quick format can be done after selecting Quick Format using the option 'Format Method'. 'Verify Data' on can be used to verify the format. Check Source: *CHECK* ------------- ------- Check Source reads the source disk, displaying errors or status codes in the error grids. Displayed errors can be normal if non dos disk protection, or unwanted errors due to bad disk media or a bad track write. Check Source will also generate a disk parameter. Copy Selected: *SELECT* -------------- -------- Copy Selected can be used to recopy tracks after completing a backup, eg; errors 'ฒ' and 'ณ', which are blank tracks or bad reads, probably due to partially erased tracks. Select tracks by clicking in the error grids or selecting a particular error you wish to recopy by pressing the corresponding alpha key or 1-9 above the alpha keys. Keys '2' and '3' on the numeric key pad are for errors 'ฒ' and 'ณ'. Reselecting a track or error will unmark the track or tracks and redisplay the original error. After selecting tracks to recopy, commence with 'START' or either Enter key. Copy Selected will insert into generated parameters and target drive RAM without clearing other tracks and can also be used to Format or Check selected tracks by selecting tracks and using the 'FORMAT' or 'CHECK' gadgets to start the operation. Compare Disks: *COMPARE* -------------- --------- Compares the disks in the source and target drives. Refer to 'Verify Data' as information is applicable, except there is no track write or reread on non DOS tracks. Using 'Fix Errors' on with disk compare will cause bad verifies. Erase Targets: *ERASE* -------------- ------- Erases the disk in the target drive or target drives if backup mode Multiple is selected. Erase Targets writes zeros to the disk, which will restore the disk to an unwritten state. DOS Disk Info: *INFO* -------------- ------ Disk Info displays the name of the disk in the source drive, total free blocks and number of blocks free per track in the error grids, in hex. NOTE: 'A' hex = 10 decimal, 'B' hex = 11 decimal. One block = 512 bytes. There are 11 blocks per track, 80 tracks per side, 2 disk sides * 80 tracks = 160 total tracks. 160 tracks * 11 blocks = 1760 total blocks. 1760 blocks * 512 bytes = 901120 total bytes. 901120 bytes / 1024 = 880k bytes per disk. Name DOS Disk: *RENAME* -------------- -------- Renames the disk in the target drive with the name in the 'Format Name' string gadget. If no name is entered the default name of 'Empty' will be used. Install Boot: *INSTALL* ------------- --------- Install Boot writes a standard DOS boot block to the target disk. The format option will auto install a bootblock. WARNING: Do NOT install PowerCopy! Analyze Buffers: *BUFFERS* ---------------- --------- Analyze Buffers displays the buffers used by PowerCopy in ASCII or Hex. The functions available from this window can be selected by key or the gadget line at the base of the window. These include an analyze buffer function which gives a description of the track read, a suggestion on how to back the track up and what special hardware, if any is required. If an error occurs when using 'Verify Data' on, a message for the last track in error showing the word and byte offset in error will be displayed in the buffer analysis window. The Read buffer contains the MFM data read from disk, except for Index Synced tracks which are read directly into the disk Write buffer. The Write buffer contains the sorted sectors if the track was standard DOS, the track length contents of the Read buffer or the length specified with the 'Data Length' gadget, if other than $0000. The SyncWord buffer contains the SyncWords which are stored from the result of a 'Sync Scan' backup. The Fix buffer holds the contents of MFM data converted back to normal data when fix errors is used on DOS tracks and as a temporary buffer when using Write Memory to disk, Disk Info, Rename Disk and Install Boot. To display the contents of a standard DOS or damaged DOS track as normal data, that is with the clock bits removed, read the track with 'Fix Errors' on and display the data in the Fix buffer. Keys 'R'ead, 'W' rite, 'F'ix and 'S'ync set the display to the start address for the corresponding buffer. 'H' swaps between ASCII and Hex, 'A' displays the buffer analysis, Up and Down arrows scroll the display a full page, Left arrow backs up Half a page and the Right arrow scrolls one line. The '1/End' key moves the display to the end of the read track data and the plus and minus keys shift the data in the Write buffer left or right one bit at a time. The shift function can be used on an 'IndexSynced' track to help identify a new SyncWord used with that track. See also 'Track Analysis' and 'Verify Data'. Each long word of data, when converted to the MFM format will be stored as two long words of MFM raw data. One long word contains the original long word even data bits plus clock bits and the other long word contains the original long word odd data bits plus clock bits. Data bits are always in the even bit positions while the clock bits, which can be binary zeros or ones, are in the odd bit positions of the MFM data. The decision of whether a clock bit is to be a 0 or 1 is determined by the neighboring data bits. For a clock bit to be a binary 1, the data bits on both sides of the clock bit must be 0, otherwise the clock bit will be 0. As a result there is never more than one binary 1 digit or three binary 0 digits in a row. Legal MFM hex numbers are therefore 1,2,4,5,8,9 and A and Illegal MFM hex numbers are 0,3,6,7,B,C,D,E and F. Examples: Hex Long Word Thirty Two Bit Binary Equivalent ------------- --------------------------------- Original $00000000 %00000000000000000000000000000000 MFM Odd Bits $AAAAAAAA %10101010101010101010101010101010 MFM Even Bits $AAAAAAAA %10101010101010101010101010101010 Original $FFFFFFFF %11111111111111111111111111111111 MFM Odd Bits $55555555 %01010101010101010101010101010101 MFM Even Bits $55555555 %01010101010101010101010101010101 Original $12345678 %00010010001101000101011001111000 MFM Odd Bits $12945452 %00010010100101000101010001010010 MFM Even Bits $2912A914 %00101001000100101010100100010100 TABLE OF HEX BINARY VALUES: --------------------------- 0 = 0000 1 = 0001 2 = 0010 3 = 0011 4 = 0100 5 = 0101 6 = 0110 7 = 0111 8 = 1000 9 = 1001 A = 1010 B = 1011 C = 1100 D = 1101 E = 1110 F = 1111 Format of a Standard DOS track: ------------------------------- For a better understanding of MFM data and what is displayed in the disk buffers for a DOS track, included here is a description of an Amiga DOS track and a diagram showing what the start of each Amiga DOS sector looks like. Sector Sector Header Header Unused SyncWords Odd Even ____________|_____________ | | | | / | | \ AAAAAAAA 44894489 552AAAA5 5552AAA9 2AAAAAAA AAAAAAAA AAAAAAAA AAAAAAAA AAAAAAAA AAAAAAAA AAAAAAAA AAAAAAAA AAAAAAAA AA52AAA4 AAAAAAAA AA545254 \________|________|________/ | | | | | Odd Even Odd Even Unused Sector Header Sector Data Checksum Checksum Amiga DOS Track Description: ---------------------------- The first long word of aaaaaaaa is used for sorting sectors after a track is read. The second long word has the two $4489 sector SyncWords, the third contains the odd data bits of the sector header and the fourth contains the even data bits of the sector header. The next eight long words are unused, the following two are the sector header checksum and the last two are the checksum for the sector data which directly follows the sector checksum. The sector data consists of two 512 byte blocks, the first containing the odd data bits of the sector data and the second the even data bits of the sector data. The above pattern is duplicated eleven times on each track as there are eleven blocks per track. The two long words making up the sector header, when clock bits are removed have the format $FFTTSSGG where $FF indicates this is a valid DOS sector header, TT is the track number for the current track read, SS is the sector number and GG is the count of sectors to the gap. In the example above ($552aaaa5 $5552aaa9) with clock bits removed is $FF50000B of which $FF indicates a valid sector ID, track number $50, sector zero and eleven sectors to the gap on this track. The track numbering system counts from side to side, so that $50 which is 80 decimal is track 40, side 0. Non DOS tracks can be set up in many ways but most have no sectors or sector headers and normally just start with two SyncWords, then long words containing all the odd and even bits of the track data. The chance therefore of having $55 on the first byte of the first two long words, which on a DOS track would be the sector ID, is remote. Most non DOS tracks therefore result in PowerCopy displaying an error '3' in the error grids, ie: Bad Sector ID, Probably Non DOS. Track Analysis: *ANALYZE* --------------- --------- Analyze reads the selected start track and side and displays a graph of the track density and length, which are directly proportional, ie: the data on a long track will be more dense than a normal length track. Press the menu button once to access the error grids, click in the error grids to graph another track or press the 'a' key or the menu button again for a buffer analysis, which is also selectable from the 'Analyze Buffers' window. The graph is mainly used for detecting protections which involve varying the motor speed during write. The graph line for a normal track will usually not deviate more than + or - 1 on the density scale. One common protection will display what looks like a square wave in the middle of the graph deviating up to + and - 3 on the density scale, another like a narrow, sharp sawtooth wave of up to + and - 2. The square wave protection is auto detected and backed up with the Hardware Power Device, others will need 'Hardware Copy' on for the tracks suspected as protection. Anything deviating outside the normal could be protection if there are no erased areas on the track. A blank track shows a very jagged line varying up to + and - 4 on the density scale. As blank tracks have no data and illegal MFM bit patterns the disk drive will pick up random data each read giving varying track lengths and density on every read. To see an example of a blank track, erase a track with unwanted data using 'Erase Target' and analyze it. A partially erased track will show a deviation in the erased area and could be present with another protection. The Buffer Analysis will state if the track is partially blank. Many of these protections will require 'Index Sync' and 'Hard Device' on to correctly back them up. The square wave protection is currently on track 0, side 1 and displays an error '3'. The sawtooth wave protection is rare but can be found on any track. It is normally with DOS tracks and shows as an error 'ณ'. This error is common as it is normally a blank track found mainly on non DOS disks. All varying density protections require the Hardware Power Device. Move Parameter: *MOVE* --------------- ------ Moves the last loaded disk parameter file to the edit, save parameter buffer. Used to display or make further alterations to an existing parameter file. Edit Parameter: *EDIT* --------------- ------ Edit opens a window to display and manually create or edit a parameter. See 'Parameter Copy' for full information on editting and creating parameters. Del Parameter: *DELETE* -------------- -------- Delete parameter opens a file requester to delete one or more parameter files. Hold the shift key down to select multiple files. Open Parameter: *LOAD* --------------- ------ Loads the parameter file selected with the file requester into the parameter load buffer for a parameter backup or to move to the edit, save buffer for further editting. The Hide and Show string gadgets are used to selectively hide or show file names using wild card characters, eg; 'g#?' entered in the Show box will display files starting with 'g' only, while 'sp#?' in the Hide box will not display any files starting with 'sp'. Backup mode parameter and end track 81 are auto selected after loading a parameter. Save Parameter: *SAVE* --------------- ------ Save parameter opens a file requester to save the created, editted or generated parameter in the edit, save buffer to the selected directory. Exit PowerCopy: --------------- Select the menu option 'Exit PowerCopy' or use the 'Close Window Gadget' when not in any function to exit PowerCopy. See also Resident 'SLEEP'. AVAILABLE BACKUP MODES ญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญ Quick Copy: ----------- This default backup mode is fast, very powerful and will back up most software with 'Index Copy' on or off as required. Most of time it will be unnecessary to change from this mode. If defaults are set the Hardware Power Device will be used for long tracks and most varying density protections automatically. QuickPlus Gap: -------------- Backup mode 'QuickPlus' is identical to 'Quick' except the gap on DOS tracks is copied also. Data in the gap was used occasionally on old protections. Multiple: --------- Backup mode 'Multiple' is used to write to several target drives at once. Multiple is intended for DOS tracks, but will backup some protected software without hardware or index requirements. You can also Format, Erase, Write Memory, KickStart and tracks or do Drive Speed tests on all available targets. If there is sufficient memory you can also copy a disk to target drive RAM and then copy source drive RAM to all available targets. Multiple targets are toggled on and off by pressing the 0,1,2 and 3 keys but will only be used if backup mode 'Multi' is selected. There are also two transparent gadgets beside each other, on the right side of 'Say Message ->' and 'Speed Adjust->'. The left gadget toggles all available targets, and the right gadget toggles all targets except the current source drive. The target drive before the colon when multiple targets are selected, is for single target operations. Index Sync: ----------- Backup mode 'Index Sync' disables use of SyncWords and copies from one index pulse to the next, exactly one disk rotation. PowerCopy will use 'Index Sync' copy automatically if no known SyncWord is found, but may sometimes be needed to backup a disk. IBM disks are formatted using the index pulse, so backup mode 'Index Sync' will backup nearly all protected IBM software. Sector Nibble: -------------- Sector Nibble is similar to backup mode 'Power Nibble', except it searches for the largest gap on the disk and starts the backup prior to the SyncWords at the end of the largest gap found. This backup mode will backup AMac software, DOS tracks and other software that have some form of sector format. Power Nibble: ------------- With some protected software a different SyncWord is placed before the standard $4489 SyncWord, so without Nibble the track would be backed up using the standard SyncWord and miss the required SyncWord. Also due to the way disk data is stored some SyncWords can be confused with others. Nibble looks for the first SyncWord it can read the track with, then backs up the entire source track from a few words before the found SyncWord. Nibble also takes the gap on DOS tracks, ie: it will do the equivalent of 'QuickPlus'. Nibble also places the source data onto the target disk in the same position. Parameter Copy: --------------- On completion of a backup a parameter is generated of info used to backup each track. The options Format, Bit timing, MsbSync and Write PreComp will be set for MFM, which is the format the Amiga and IBM use and need not be touched. The important options are SyncWord, Length, Index Copy and if DOS or NON DOS. Backing up a program using different SyncWords would be an example of when to use a parameter. Normally such a backup would take up to 10 minutes, due to SyncWord scanning, so on completion you would save the generated parameter which when loaded and used should now take less than two minutes. Backup mode parameter and end track 81 are auto selected after a parameter is loaded. If the generated parameter is used on another original with shorter track lengths, it would copy the full track, plus the track start again. As this would damage the backup this is prevented by stopping at the correct track length and displaying the 'NOTE: Track length under data length' message. The 'Data Length' gadget can be used to shorten the generated track lengths to just above the program data length, eg; An average track length is $18ce words, whereas the actual program data length is normally between $1700 and $1890 words (the eleven sectors on a DOS track have a data length of $1760). The 'Data Length' gadget can be used to set the program data length in all backup modes, except 'Index Sync'. After testing that your parameter works, you can experiment decreasing the 'Data Length' value until the backup fails. The 'Data Length' ideally would be one to eight words above the actual data length. If you use a value other than zero in the 'Data Length' gadget, that length will also be used in the length field for the generated parameter. If creating a parameter for an Amiga DOS track the sync and length fields have different meanings. The sync field becomes the value to place in the gap and the length field is the number of words to place into the gap. Using the length $7fff will fill the whole gap. Fill lengths of greater than $7fff are reserved for special parameters. To fill the target gap with $20 words of $0001 you would enter 0001 in the Sync field and 0020 in the length field. The standard gap value for DOS tracks is AAAA, which is zeros with clock bits inserted, required for the MFM format and you would normally specify a length of 0001 as the gap on unprotected DOS tracks would be AAAAs anyway. Gap Fill is for DOS tracks only so DOS must be entered in the type field. Parameter backup can also do a Sector or Power Nibble on tracks by setting the nibble field to 'SEC' for 'Sector Nibble' or 'NIB' for 'Power Nibble'. Parameters can be editted using Edit Parameters and the following keys. Up and Down arrows position the edit pointer to the desired track and side or the keys '0' to '7' can be used to change the top line of the display to the corresponding track number * 10. Left and Right arrow keys move the cursor left or right to the desired field to edit. 'Spacebar' duplicates the parameters for the last track editted or 'Tab' duplicates the last track editted, excluding the SyncWord. 'Y' and 'N' are for 'On' and 'Off' fields. 'O', 'N' and 'S' for 'Off', 'NIB'ble and 'SEC'tor in the Nibble field. 'D' and 'N' are for 'DOS' and 'NON' DOS. '2' and '4' are for bit cell timing. 'M' and 'G' are for 'MFM' or 'GCR' and '0, 1, 2 and 5' are for '000, 140, 280 and 560' nano seconds write PreComp. PowerCopy uses 140ns write PreComp after track 40 and is recommended to be used with your own parameters also. There are two parameter buffers, one for a loaded parameter used with a parameter backup and the other an edit, save parameter buffer which contains a created or generated parameter from a backup. The edit, save buffer is cleared by a disk backup or Checkdisk, except when using 'Copy Selected' which will only change the parameter for the selected tracks. If you wish to edit a parameter, load it and select 'Parameter Move' to move the parameter from the load buffer to the edit, save buffer where it can be editted and resaved. If you would prefer not to save your parameters to the original PowerCopy disk, you can format a blank disk with the name Parameters and use the file requester to select the drive and directory you wish to use to Save, Delete and Load your parameters from. The default directory is 'SYS:Parameters'. SyncWord Scan: -------------- SyncWord Scan will scan the selected tracks for all possible SyncWords and use the last SyncWord found, instead of the first, to backup the track. This sometimes overcomes the problem of a different SyncWord placed in front of the standard $4489 SyncWord. See Nibble Copy. If the backup works you can save and use the created parameter instead of Nibble backup. If the backup failed, you can try other SyncWords found on each track. Press the 's' key from the Edit Parameters window to display SyncWords found. The SyncWord buffer contents are held until the next disk operation using backup mode 'Sync Scan'. COPY OPTIONS ญญญญญญญญญญญญญญ Hardware Copy: -------------- PowerCopy has an optional Hardware Power Device available as an alternative means of backing up long tracks. It is also needed to backup a protection that cannot be duplicated with a drive speed controller. This involves precisely varying the motor speed up and down by specific amounts during the writing of a track. The Hardware Power Device transfers data directly from the source drive to the target drive, bypassing the normal internal disk hardware completely. As data is transferred direct, the density of the data on the source disk will be duplicated onto the target disk. Any drive after the Power Device can be a target, but to use an internal drive as a target the Power Device should be disabled by using 'Hard Device' off. When backing up programs with very long data tracks using the Hardware Power Device, the backup can be unreliable or fail completely on some disk drives. The problem is worse on higher tracks as the inner tracks are smaller and data therefore more dense. Success has been reported eliminating this problem totally by using high density disks. Strangely enough, tracks backed up on high density disks, without the Hardware Power Device are more unreliable than when using double density disks. When backing up onto high density disks with lots of long data tracks and some normal length tracks you should use 'Hardware Device' on as PowerCopy only uses the Hardware when necessary. For reliability and accuracy drive speed analysis is done at the start of a backup and again at track 40. The timed speed in bytes of the source and target drives and the difference between them will be displayed after each Speed Analysis. When using the Power Device, the closer the source and target drive speeds, the more accurate the backup. It is best if the target drive has the slower motor speed, ie: the drive that can hold the most data. If 'Index Copy' or 'Index Sync' are on when the Hardware is used, before the transfer can begin the indexes on each drive need to be aligned. PowerCopy will pulse the drive motor of the source or target drive on and off to bring the indexes into alignment. Many tracks which do not have a SyncWord and are index synced may not need the indexes aligned, so you can press the left mouse button to start an immediate data transfer, aborting the index alignment. With some 5ผ" and 3ฝ" drives, index alignment may be difficult if the motor latch circuitry has not been done to the Commodore standard. If PowerCopy has trouble aligning indexes, press the mouse button when the index distances are as close to 0 as possible. The byte distance between indexes is shown next to the 'Drive Speed' if PowerCopy has to pulse the drive motors to align indexes. See also Track Analysis, Index Alignment, Motor Pulse and Write OverLap. Index Copy: ----------- Index Copy if on will wait for the disk index pulse before scanning for the SyncWord when reading a track and will wait for the disk index pulse before writing a track. Index Copy can be on to backup nearly all software, but the disk backup will be slower than necessary, if Index Copy was not required. Fix Errors: ----------- Fix Errors will repair as many sectors on a DOS track as possible, fixing sector headers and checksums, but not errors within the data itself. If the errors are in graphics or sound they will be corrupted but the program should still work. If the error is in processor code the program will load, but probably crash. If no sectors can be fixed or the track is non DOS the target track will be formatted. Fixed errors will be white instead of black on a standard palette. Fix Errors should only be used to correct DOS errors as errors could be disk protection. Fix Errors will also slow down the backup. Errors are relative to a standard Amiga DOS track, so errors displayed for a non DOS protected track should be treated as a reference only. The following error table is also available from the 'Special' menu in PowerCopy. Table of Errors and Track Status Codes which appear in the error grids: 0................................Amiga DOS Track with no Error 1.......................Sector Header will not be Found by DOS 2........................................Non Standard SyncWord ฒ................As Above: Blank Track, Bad Read or Protection 3..............................Bad Sector ID, Probably Non DOS ณ................As Above: Blank Track, Bad Read or Protection 4.............................Incorrect Sector Header CheckSum 5...............................Incorrect Sector Data CheckSum 6.............................Not Enough DOS Sectors Available 7......................Incorrect Track Number in Sector Header 8..................Incorrect Sector Numbering in Sector Header 9.........................Incorrect Sector and Header Checksum S........................No SyncWord Found, Track Index Synced L................Long Track, Shown Only if Speed Adjust is Off F.....................Source Unfixable, Target Track Formatted ื...............................Error Verifying Non DOS ReRead X.................................Error Verifying Written Data Verify Data: ------------ Verify Data is used to verify the writing of DOS and non DOS tracks, non DOS rereads, Retry Errors and bad track reads. If a written track does not verify, it will be rewritten and verified the number of times in 'Verify Count'. With non DOS tracks there is no way of knowing if a track read is good, so PowerCopy will reread the source track and test for the same data. If the reread matches we can assume the read is good, if not the track will be reverified the number of times in 'Verify Count'. If a verify error occurs on a non DOS track a message will show the offset into the data where the error occurred. The 'Data Length' gadget may be needed with non DOS tracks if bad verifies are given on tracks with the error at approximately the same offset. See 'Helpful Hints for Backing up Programs' for more information. PowerCopy will not verify errors 'ฒ', 'ณ' or Index Synced tracks. Verify Count: ------------- Verify count is the maximum number of retries for verifying written data, non DOS rereads, Retry Errors, bad track reads and 'Disk Compare' reads. The number of retries can be set from 0 to 999 but 255 is the maximum usable value. If a known good disk develops an error, you could set a large 'Verify Count' to attempt to get a good backup of the original. Retry Errors: ------------- The default read errors to retry are '1', '4', '5' and '9' as these would normally be genuine DOS errors, but there is a small chance that other errors could develop on a DOS track. The number '0' could be used with Checkdisk to look for a suspected intermittent error on a standard DOS track. Using other retry error numbers on protected disks will slow down reading unnecessarily. Message Speak: -------------- Turns speaking of status and selection messages on and off. The narrator device and translator library must be available for speech to work or a corresponding error message will be given. If a new message is issued and speech is already in progress the current speech will be aborted and the new message given. The translator library and narrator device on PowerCopy are from WorkBench 2.0. If preferred the translator library and narrator device from WorkBench 1.3 can be used as they have a different sound and are smaller. If you do not need Speech or require more memory, edit the speech speed under the options window to 000 and save it using 'Save Defaults'. This will speed up the loading of PowerCopy and free 76300 bytes of memory. Speed Adjust: ------------- If Speed Adjust is on PowerCopy will pause and open a window displaying the target drive speed and a message with the read track length to adjust your drive speed to, if the first read track length exceeds or equals the initial pause length set in the 'Open Defaults' window or if following track lengths vary by more than twenty words. For Speed Adjust off only, the status code 'L' will be displayed in the error grids to show the presence of long tracks. To use the 'Speed Adjust' option a drive with motor speed control is required. See also the paragraph on 'Understanding Data Storage and Disk Protections'. Format Method: -------------- Format Method determines if formats done using the 'Format Target' option will format the selected track range or do a Quick format by writing a new boot block and an empty root directory. A Quick format is the equivalent of erasing all files from a formatted disk and renaming and installing it. Hex Dec Values: --------------- Hex Dec Values toggles the displayed values for 'Read Length' and 'Drive Speed' from Hex to Decimal. These values are in Words (two bytes). DISK SIDE MENU ญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญ Lower Side: ----------- Use the lower disk side (side zero) for disk operations. Upper Side: ----------- Use the upper disk side (side one) for disk operations. Both Sides: ----------- Select and use both sides of the disk for disk operations. Start Side: ----------- Select start side zero or start side one for disk operations. SPECIAL OPTIONS ญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญ PowerCopy Info: --------------- Gives the current program version number, authors and distributors names, etc. Errors & Codes: *ERRORS* --------------- -------- Status Errors will display a list of all track and status code errors. Resident Sleep: *SLEEP* 'Del'ete --------------- ------- -------- Resident Sleep closes the PowerCopy screen, leaving PowerCopy resident in memory. Press both mouse buttons simultaneously to return. As only one PowerCopy can be running, if you forget PowerCopy is sleeping or active with its screen behind another and try to load it again, that PowerCopy will wake up the current resident PowerCopy or bring the active screen to the front and exit. If you have loaded other programs during 'SLEEP' and try to return to PowerCopy and there is insufficient memory to open the PowerCopy screen, all screens will be flashed. Unload something from memory if this happens. Write RAM Data: --------------- Write RAM Data writes memory to the selected track range starting from the address entered in the 'Mem Address' string gadget. The address must be Hex and have no '$' prefix, eg: start of KickStart 'fc0000'. Read One Track: *READ* --------------- ------ Read One Track reads the selected start track and side into the disk read and write buffers. Use 'BUFFERS' to display or analyze the read track. Write One Track: *WRITE* ---------------- ------- Write One Track writes the disk write buffer back to the specified start track and side. The target track can be different to the source track read. Write KickStart: ---------------- Write KickStart writes the current version of KickStart, from the computer PowerCopy is running on, to the target drive in the format required for an Amiga 1000. Use only for restoring an original Amiga KickStart disk that has become corrupt, as KickStart is Copyright to Commodore Amiga Inc. Multiple Speeds: *SPEED* ---------------- ------- Drive Speed displays the drive speed of the selected target or target drives if backup mode Multiple is selected. Hex and decimal byte and word lengths and motor R.P.M. are displayed. The drive speed test is performed on track 80 which normally contains no disk data. Select 'Open Defaults' to change the track used for the drive speed test. See also 'Drive Speed Test Track'. Clear RAM Drive: *CLEAR* ---------------- ------- Clear RAM drive clears target drive RAM and frees all memory used. The function Clear RAM Drive is equivalent to erasing target drive RAM. Reselect Drives: *DRIVES* ---------------- -------- Reselect 'DRIVES' retests and enables use of floppy drives turned on after PowerCopy has been loaded. This can be used if you forget to turn on a drive. Assign Enter: *ASSIGN* ------------- -------- After selecting Assign, the next menu option or gadget selected will be assigned to the Enter key on the numeric keypad. The default for the numeric Enter key is 'START' backup. The main return key is always 'START' backup. DEFAULTS MENU ญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญ Load Defaults: -------------- Loads the PowerCopy.Config file from disk and resets all the options as per 'Save Defaults'. This file, if present is auto loaded when PowerCopy loads. Save Defaults: -------------- Saves to disk the following settings; Source and Target drives, Multiple Targets, Format Name used with Rename DOS disk and Format Target, Backup Mode, Hard Device, Index Copy, Fix Errors, Verify Data, Say Messages, Speed Adjust, Verify Count, Retry Errors, Format Method, Hex or Decimal length values, Color Mode and current Normal Color and Stripe Color Palettes, Speed Test Track, Speech Speed, Speed Adjust Length, Head Step Delay, Head Settle Delay, Double Click Delay, Message Scroll Delay, Index Alignment Accuracy, Motor Pulse Width, Write OverLap Distance, Swap Gadget line and the PowerCopy.docs file path. The default name of 'PowerCopy.Config' must be in the 's' directory if your defaults are to be auto loaded when PowerCopy loads. OPEN DEFAULTS STRING GADGET OPTIONS: ญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญ Open Defaults: *OPEN* -------------- ------ Open Defaults opens a window to edit string gadgets for the drive speed test track, speed of speech, initial track length to pause on if 'Speed Adjust' is on, delay for drive head stepping, head settle delay for when track to be read or written is reached, double click delay for setting start and end tracks to the same value, delay in seconds till the information scroll message, required index alignment accuracy, motor pulse width to align indexes and write overlap distance from SyncWords. There are also gadgets to set the default values for this window only, color cycling, loading and saving PowerCopy defaults, color palette requester and a gadget to set the default PowerCopy.docs file path. Drive Speed Test Track: ----------------------- The Drive Speed Test Track value counts from side to side, so the default value of 160, shown in brackets, is track 80 which normally contains no disk data. If using track numbers from 0 to 159, use a disk with unwanted data. Speech Speed: ------------- The Speech Speed value determines the speed of spoken messages. The default shown in brackets is 200 decimal. Usable values are 40 to 400. If you do not need speech or require more memory, edit the speech speed to 000. This will speed up the loading of PowerCopy and free 76300 bytes of memory. Speed Adjust Length: -------------------- The default value of 6400 decimal words, is the initial minimum track length that PowerCopy will pause on for drive speed adjustment if 'Speed Adjust' is on. This option can also be used with 'Speed Adjust' off to determine at what track length the error code 'L' for long tracks will be given. This can be used to stop 'L' from being displayed so you can see the original error which may be required for selecting tracks to be recopied using 'Copy Selected'. Head Step Delay: ---------------- The Head Step Delay value allows control of the speed at which your drive head seeks from track to track. The default value of 3000 decimal, shown in brackets, is also used by DOS. Using too small a value will cause read errors or total seek failure. Good quality drives may handle around 1500 to 1800, but values under 2000 are not recommended. The maximum usable value is 65536. Head Settle Delay: ------------------ When the drive head is seeked to a track which is going to be read or written, a further delay should be given to allow the drive head time to settle. DOS uses a delay of 15000 decimal which is more than required. The default value of 6000 is shown in brackets. The maximum usable value is 65536. Double Click Delay: ------------------- Double Click Delay is the maximum time between clicking the same error grid coordinate to set start and end tracks to the same value. The default value of 25, shown in brackets, allows for up to half a second delay between clicks. The maximum value of 99 decimal allows for up to two seconds between clicks. Scroll Message Delay: --------------------- Scroll Message Delay is the time in seconds before an information scroll message begins printing in the status box. Pressing keys or mouse buttons resets the delay. The Default value of 600, shown in brackets, gives ten minutes before the scroll message appears with no PowerCopy activity. Index Alignment Accuracy: ------------------------- Index Alignment Accuracy applies to tracks with Hardware Device and Index requirements which will also need the drive motors pulsed to align indexes. The default value of 10 decimal, shown in brackets, is the maximum number of bytes allowed between the source index and the target drive index before the data transfer begins. The larger the number entered the worse the accuracy but the faster the index alignment, the smaller the value the slower and more accurate the alignment. Some single track protections may require 10 to 50 bytes accuracy and other disks with index and hardware requirements may backup correctly with values as large as 100 to 500. Motor Pulse Width: ------------------ Motor Pulse Width is used to pulse the source and target drive motors on and off to align their indexes. The indexes are aligned when the timed byte count between indexes, displayed next to 'Drive Speed', reaches the maximum count or 0000. The maximum byte distance between indexes is normally around 3200. If you specified an index alignment accuracy of 5 bytes and the maximum byte distance between indexes is 3207 then a match would be between 3202 and 5 (-5 to +5), ie: PowerCopy will consider the indexes to be aligned with any of the following values 3202, 3203, 3204, 3205, 3206, 3207, 0000, 0001, 0002, 0003, 0004 or 0005. The default of 27000 decimal, shown in brackets, can be changed to suit different drives. If the value shown next to drive speed jumps large amounts back and forth over the 0000 area reduce the motor pulse value, or if the value hovers around the one value or changes too slowly then increase the motor pulse. If you still have trouble aligning indexes you can set the motor pulse to zero for no pulse and let the differences between your source and target drive speeds drift the indexes into alignment. Note: PowerCopy will still pulse the drive motors until the indexes are between + and - 0500 with zero motor pulse value. The index alignment value can also be made larger for easier alignment if necessary. See Index Alignment accuracy. Write OverLap: -------------- Write OverLap is applicable to tracks copied with the Hardware Power Device only. The default of 20 bytes, shown in brackets, is the distance between the SyncWords at the start of the track data and where the data transfer stops and overlaps. Some programs may possibly require this overlap to be closer to the SyncWords or further away. Specifying too large a value may damage the end of program track data, while too small a value may cause some tracks to overlap the SyncWords at the start of the track, destroying the backup. Set Defaults: *DEFAULT* Backspace ------------- --------- --------- Sets PowerCopy defaults to; Track Range 00-79, Start Side 0, Disk Sides both, SyncWord $4489, Data Length $0000, Source Drive 0, Target Drive 1, Multiple Targets none, Format Name PowerCopy, Backup Mode Quick, Hard Device auto, Index Copy off, Fix Errors off, Verify Data off, Say Message on, Speed Adjust off, Verify Count 004, Retry Errors 1459, Format Method normal, Length Values hexadecimal, Colors normal, Speed Test Track 160, Speech Speed 200, Initial Speed Adjust Pause Length 6400, Head Step Delay 3000, Head Settle Delay 6000, Double Click Delay 25, Message Scroll Delay 600, Index Alignment Accuracy 10, Motor Pulse Value 27000, Write OverLap 20, Swap gadget line to 'INFO, RENAME, INSTALL, ERRORS and SLEEP' and numeric Enter assigned to 'START' backup. Color Palette: -------------- 'Normal Colors' and 'Color Stripes' can be customized using the Color Palette Requester. If changing 'Color Stripes' the color change will only be at the top of the screen until the Requester is closed. For a sensible color stripe selection PowerCopy restricts the first color stripe value to under 9. Color Stripes: -------------- Color Stripes changes the background to different shades of color stripes. Normal Colors: -------------- Normal Colors selects the normal background color, without any color stripes. *Color Cycle*: -------------- Color Cycle is available from gadget only. Cycles through a selection of predefined color sets for both 'Normal Colors' and 'Color Stripes'. DRIVES MENU ญญญญญญญญญญญญญ Select drives using the drives menu or F1-F5 for the source and F6-F10 for the target. PowerCopy loads with the first available target drive or target drive RAM if only one drive available. The source and target drives can be reversed by selecting the transparent gadget in front of the 'Target Drive ->' message. HARDDRIVE INSTALLATION ญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญ To install PowerCopy load WorkBench, open the HDInstall drawer and select the required icon. Assign can be used if the required icon is not available, eg; 'Assign FH0: DH0:' and then use the DH0: icon. The Install icons are for first time installation and updates. It is best to use the install icons as the batch files will also copy any new or updated Parameter files. To copy PowerCopy manually to a hard drive the following files are required; ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ POWERCOPY Directory: PowerCopy, PowerCopy.docs (PowerBoot, PowerMem) S Directory: PowerCopy.Config (defaults used if no config file) S Directory: PowerCopy.SyncWords (defaults used if no syncword file) DEVS Directory: Narrator.device FONTS Directory: Diamond.font, Topaz.font FONTS/DIAMOND Directory: 12 FONTS/TOPAZ Directory: 11 LIBS Directory: Translator.library, Req.library, Diskfont.library PARAMETERS Directory: all files if desired ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ For further information or tutoring on PowerCopy Professional, please contact the Author, Advanced Technology Computers or P.M. Developments. Constructive criticisms and ideas on these instructions or PowerCopy are encouraged. 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